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There is a trail system here in the Northern peninsular. It would not be fair to try to compare this system to the one in Quebec. So far we have been on a recognizable trail system about 20% of the time. Frequent winds and equipment breakdowns create large challenges for some communities here. Still a refreshing style of riding that we tend to enjoy.

We have enjoyed the communities and people. Very warm and friendly which is the Newfoundland way for sure!

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The days just keep repeating in such a nice way! A tour of two former communities that its residents were resettled into St Anthony back in the 1950’s were on the docket today. One was Ireland Bite and the other was Lock Cove. You got a real good feeling of what life was like in all these communities before roads. St Anthony got a highway in the 1960’s! These communities had a history of being isolated.

Than we headed to Hawkes Bay, but not without a mechanical issue again today. We had a clutch roller fail near Cold Brook, but got we fixed it in locals garage in Main Brook. Just a two hour delay, very lucky to find a used part in This small community!

After that we rode many miles on the Muskrat Falls hydro line. Ironically it’s the same line in Newfoundland that we ran last year in Labrador, on this very day ladt year on our white road run. Crazy coincidences.

A windy but blue sky today, Tomorrow we head for the Gros Morne National Park. Hoping for a blue sky day for this scenery!

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We have been so appreciative of everyone helping out, today’s breakdown in Main Brook was an example, everyone chips in to find the means to get you parts, a shop and back going.

As mentioned before it’s a way of life in a tough land.

Today we visited a memorial, this was of a snowmobiler who was not as fortunate in a bad storm. He was found huddled around this rock on the barrens outside of St Anthony. He was not able to get help in time!

RR, You get such a feel for the land and its people where ever you go. That is what makes your posts so interesting to read and your pictures have so much depth.

mike

Mike, we all ride with a group of snowmobile friends that we have met over the years. What’s amazing is these guys are from all over New England, Quebec, Labrador and now, Newfoundland. The areas we love to ride. The circle just keeps getting bigger!

So when something happens on you ride in a region, they have friends who have friends to help out, share history ect. It really is the connections of people that makes it interesting. Not unlike the sharing of stories and adventures here on QR.

Riding along yesterday, I said what is different here in a Newfoundland’s the other areas we ride?

Some of the things that popped out. You get big woods roads, (some groomed!) high mountain plains, coastal barrens, snow bowls to play on, gorgeous views, very low traffic count . Plus at no given time are you more than 80 or 100 miles from an outfitter or Community that have great people living there.

Its not that you don’t find many of these features riding the Gaspe or other regions in Quebec, it just seems all these features are so close , large and yet condensed in a relatively small region here, but as your riding, it seems like no mans land! We love adventure riding and this is a great model for it.

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I have sledded Newfoundland a couple times, certainly a unique experience. I strongly recommend it to any sledder that likes a challenge or something different As the boys mentioned, a guide is definitely a must.

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Sm and Playhard, well we didn’t get cheated on our adventure ride for sure!

Thursday and Friday did not disappoint us😁. Thursday started out so nice but high clouds up in the Long Range mountain highlands in the distance had other plans for us. As many of you saw earlier in the week, The highlands, a few days ago had a beautiful blue sky, and felt very inviting. 😉

As mentioned , We had heard several stories of trouble and tragedy in these highlands all week. Well we got taste of just how wild it can get. By mid morning our clear view morning ...had changed into a slow crawl, dirty visibility and several dig outs of drifts as we crawled our way up into the highlands. Wow we still got a long ways of to go! This is what its like when the weather goes bad😉 , This is going to be slow going!

Just before noon we decided this is not going to work! We had just got to a rough shelter about half way in. This looks like our chalet for the night! 😊

As we settled into our very.........rustic accommodations, some gathered fire wood , others water, an inventory of overnight supplies started popping out on the rustic picnic table in the shelter. A wood stove provided heat, but that was about it. The wind howled all night, but by 3:30 am it seemed like we had a window of opportunity and visibility was better, but we had 10 sleds buried in snow and we needed to get rolling. With winds forecasted to pick back up to levels we experienced yesterday, we knew we had a a narrow window.

Robert Gardner and Dixon Clements, both Cain’s Quest Champ’s and old pros at these types of riding conditions
, gathered the troops and said well...it’s now ...or ....we most likely will be here another day. So at 4:40am, sleds are all running and we are heading down out of the range, at a crawl. 3 hours later, and 35 miles under our belt, we dropped down into the tree line. Lots of stories and laughs to share, but also a reality of just how quick things can change in the high country! It’s always an adventure.

With 10 experienced riders it was awesome to see all the safety and overnight equipment pop out of everyone’s bags. Multiple Garmin in reaches, Spot tracker devices, food, food lines for hanging gear to dry, fire starting equipment, jet boils, tarps, ect. You guys get it because we all tend to carry those items whether adventure riding or groomed trail riding, and at times thinking, wow, do I really need this stuff? Well yes, on occasion you do!

The other neat observation was to observe your riding partners under challenging conditions. This group all remained calm and focused. Good attributes for any type of ride, especially when conditions change.

As mentioned a few days ago, we had planned to get into the Gross Morne Park, but do “unforeseen circumstances” we ran out of time!! We did get to see territory and ride a regions that even many locals have never done.

We catch the evening ferry back to NS tonight. We will be back to the Rock again! This has been another great adventure ride. And many more things to see and experience here!

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Mxz, yes, the amount of snow in many areas of Newfoundland is more than some have seen 30 years according to some of the lodge keepers.

Jackstraw, that 16x16 Hut definitely was getting smaller by the hour! It would have got real interesting if you were hunkered down for a couple of days lol.😳

As we now have done this loop of the Great Northern Pennsylvania of Newfoundland, you certainly get a better understanding of the Long Range Mountain highlands. You really cannot do this loop and ride both regions, Deer lake/ Corner Brook and St Anthony, Hawke’s Bay. Regions without hitting this range two times! And you definitely want good weather each time! Having said that all regions here and on the mainland can get dirty, but the terrain, lack of any good shelter, adds to the complexity in the highlands. Still the beauty of a good day is well worth the ride!!

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This is very true. I have a friend that goes to the rock every year. Lots of deep snow and challenging conditions. One his guys says you should have six guys, and four of them should be young fellas...Hope see some pictures of your adventure....

The﻿ other neat observation was to observe your riding partners under challenging conditions. This group all remained﻿ calm and focused. Good attributes for any type of ride, especially when conditions change.﻿﻿﻿﻿

Congrats on that! It's great to see the best in folks come out when the poop hits the fan!

Groomer, we have all lived life in the Gaspe thru your pics so being able to share a few from our trip was fun. On this trip we had a great photographer with us, Josh Bingle, from Lab City. He had done a few of the drone shots that I had posted earlier. He is going thru his camera files now, what a difference a nice camera makes!

We have talked about how open and barren the Long Range Mountain highlands is. These pics.from Josh... on a blue sky day!😁.... depict how wide open it is.

Also, we saw lots of Moose and many more fresh signs. Those of us from Maine found it interesting that the Moose In Labrador came from Maine. They were introduced in 1906 to Labrador. They have flourished since!